RIM didn’t envision creating a touch device. Yet here we are in 2011 with the company abandoning it’s prior failed attempts at making a touch-only smartphone, and instead copying the competition instead of innovating. The BlackBerry Torch 9850 is a no-frills touch phone. There’s no SurePress display, thankfully — just a regular capacitive screen. The device features a 1.2GHz CPU, a 5-megapixel camera, 4GB of built-in storage, and more. Does it stand a chance at competing with the iPhone and Android devices, though? Read on for my review.

RIM’s BlackBerry Torch 9850 is the company’s third smartphone to launch with a full touchscreen form factor, following the original Storm and the Storm 2, and it’s the first to launch on Sprint. The 9850 packs brand new hardware and the new BlackBerry 7 operating system into a thin industrial design, but is it enough of an improvement over the earlier Storm devices to warrant your upgrade? Can it compete with other touchscreen smartphones? I’ve been using the Torch 9850 for the past week and my full review of the smartphone follows below.

Is RIM’s BlackBerry Bold 9930 worthy of a $250 price tag? Sprint seems to think so. BGR has obtained a copy of an upcoming Sprint flier that reveals pricing for several devices, including RIM’s new flagship CDMA smartphone, the BlackBerry Bold 9930. According to the document, Sprint’s BlackBerry Bold 9930 will cost $249.99 with a new 2-year agreement. Sprint’s upcoming BlackBerry Torch 9850 will cost $149.99 on contract, and the Samsung Conquer 4G will cost $99.99, as we knew. The $249.99 price tag on the new Bold at Sprint could also mean we can expect similar pricing from other major carriers. We really like the aggressive Torch 9850 pricing — $150 is a terrific starting point for RIM’s new full touchscreen device, and when it drops to $99.99 later this, it will be a steal. $250 is still a tough pill to swallow, however, and we think the above-average cost could slow adoption of the Bold fairly significantly. Early adopters will be on board regardless, of course, but average consumers and businesses — especially SMBs — might think twice before parting with $250 for the 9930. Do we think RIM’s new touch-and-type Bold is worth $250? We’ll that’s an entirely different story, and you’ll have to wait for our full review to find out. An image of the full page from Sprint’s flier follows below. More →